Conclusion:

Once again, we are quite pleased with the overall performance of a Seagate GoFlex Ultra-Portable product. For the most part, the GoFlex for Mac had similar performance to both its Windows based sibling and another Mac-formatted drive. Seagate is clearly hoping the GoFlex for Mac will fill one of the only real voids left in the GoFlex lineup, and at the same time provide a product targeted directly at Mac users. While their other products do work with OS X out of the box, the others are not optimized for the Mac platform.



While USB 2.0 and Firewire connections may presently be more popular, it would have been nice to find a USB 3.0 connection included with this drive. Sure, there might not be USB 3.0 support on a Mac, but people may want to share this on a Windows PC, too, so you might as well get as much speed out of it as you can! Otherwise, the only other wish list item would be for the Windows HFS+ utility to have been included in the box, and not to be downloaded separately.

A check of the Bigbruin.com shopping engine shows that the Seagate GoFlex for Mac is available from places such as Amazon.com for a very reasonable $159.99 with free shipping. The drive's price isn't bad, but when compared to "Windows" centric GoFlex products you will see that it is a bit higher.

All in all, the GoFlex for Mac is a great addition to your Macintosh, your backpack, and your USB Media Center. Therefore, the Seagate GoFlex 1TB external drive for Mac earns the Bigbruin.com "Highly Recommended" Award.



Pros:

» Comes with both USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 cables
» Same ultra-portable case as other GoFlex products
» Seamless interoperability with both Macs and Windows PCs

Cons:

» No USB 3.0 cable included
» Windows HFS+ utility must be downloaded
» Priced higher than "Windows" GoFlex products of the same capacity

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